Nikolai is a brilliant engineer and a walking toolkit powered by sheer charisma.⚙️ Want to bring his complex, detail-packed look to life? Our cosplay guide will help you assemble it piece by piece!

➡️ CLICK THE LINK TO DIVE IN! ⬅️

Meet Raf-9, the Ultimate Engineering Buddy!🤖
Tired of fixing things alone? Meet Raf-9 aka Rafik, the cutest little engineer robot who’s always ready to assist… emotionally, at least! This plush version of the legendary tech whiz won’t actually build your next invention, but he will offer moral support, snuggles, and a slightly judgmental stare when your project falls apart (again).
With ultra-soft plush fabric, perfectly huggable proportions, and a look that says: “Did you turn it off and on again?”, Raf-9 is the perfect companion for engineers, tinkerers, and anyone who appreciates a good robot sidekick.

The RAF-9 Engineer Plush campaign is live on Makeship until May 9, 8:00PM GMT+4!

Grab yours here:
https://www.makeship.com/products/raf-9-engineer-atomic-heart-plushie

A bit dark, mysterious, yet always ready to lend a hand…One of the most brutal looks from DLC#3 is here!
Want to recreate Hunter's style? Our cosplay guide will show you where to start.🔥

➡️ CLICK TO DOWNLOAD ⬅️

The time has come! 👀
We're finally releasing the long-awaited 6-hour Twins scene, which will amuse you more than the Avengers: Doomsday announcement 🧯🔥:

While creating characters for DLC 3, we spent countless hours working on their personalities, roles, and interactions in the game world. Each of them fleshed out the game's universe with new details and added additional depth to the story. In this article, we'll walk through how Hunter, Nastya, and Nikolai came to be and how they were transformed from the initial concept stage to the characters players know so well.

Appearance and Outfits
Each character's image was thoughtfully crafted with their background and personality in mind. The narrative and art departments worked together to make sure that the outfit and appearance details reflected the new characters' personalities.


Hunter has long held a desk job despite having extensive combat experience, and this influenced his character: he's wary and paranoid, but always ready for action. This contrast is reflected in his appearance too, with a somber tie under his body armor and a disheveled haircut, partially inspired by P-3's style, that hints at his military past and emphasizes his eccentricity.


Fun fact: choosing Hunter's hairstyle took quite a bit of time, and was so important that Mundfish's founder, Robert Bagratuni, personally supervised the process to make sure that the character's personality was captured as accurately as possible.


Nikolai comes from the capital, and his unusual hairstyle serves to emphasize the fact that he's different from the other characters.
Nastya is closely connected to the Triton complex, hence her image reflects the center's unique environment. Since she works at a place where aquatic research is conducted and dolphin behavior is studied, it makes sense that her seemingly ordinary down jacket is a life vest with a special valve in case of flooding. Additionally, her dolphin earrings are a symbol of her work as an ichthyologist.

Early Character Concepts
The characters' appearances and roles in DLC 3 have undergone significant changes from their original concepts.

Hunter was first conceived as a robotic, sarcastic, and lackadaisical employee, but over time his image became darker and more realistic.
Meanwhile, Nikolai was originally imagined as a technician from Central Asia.
Early renditions of Nastya portrayed her as a confused and timid damsel in distress; this morphed into her becoming stronger and more independent.


These changes allowed players to meet new characters as well as deepened the protagonists' personalities, thus making the story more emotionally intense.

Character Interactions
Working on characters, even those who only appear briefly, requires an individual approach. One of the most challenging tasks for the narrative department was creating a balance between characters of different genders. For instance, Kolya makes light jokes and laughs a lot so that his humor doesn't overlap with P-3's darker jokes. Hunter, on the other hand, is totally averse to jokes and has no patience for clowning around.

The female characters also have different reactions: while Blesna, Nastya, and NORA may all be confused, they cope with the situation in a different way. Nastya cares for people and dolphins, Blesna worries about her husband and the future, and NORA only thinks about herself.



Fun Facts: Hunter
We originally planned for Hunter to leave voice messages for those who opened his crates, but scrapped the idea so that players weren't overwhelmed.
He was also intended to be the antithesis of Granny Zina—although they're about the same age and have a lot of experience with weapons and tactics, their reactions to situations are very different.
Hunter lost his entire family during World War II, and has since chosen to avoid close relationships so that he doesn't have to experience the pain of loss again.



Fun Facts: Nikolai
Originally, his name was to be Daniyar, and he was supposed to be an employee who was born right in Facility 3826.
The name Nikolai Kholmetsky is a reference to the actor Kyle Hill, who became a prototype for Nikolai's appearance. In Russian, the word "kholm" means "hill."
Due to a texture bug discovered while testing, Kolya's apron looked like his own skin, which made him resemble a maniac from a horror movie. The dev team had a good laugh about this. :)



Fun Facts: Nastya
Completely by accident, Nastya's Russian voice actress has the same first and last name as the character. The team didn't even know about that for a long time.
Her ultimate dream is to create a servo-powered suit that would allow dolphins to move around freely on land.
In 1954, Nastya won a beauty contest in Facility 3826.



We sincerely hope that the new character intros were as exciting for you to read as they were for us to create. Maybe some of them have already intrigued you, or you've already found a favorite. What do you remember about the new characters? Share your thoughts in the comments!

🌸 Spring is here, and so are the savings! 🌸

For a limited time, grab Atomic Heart at up to 67% off on Steam! It’s the perfect moment to dive into a world of thrilling battles and unsolved mysteries.

📅 Don’t wait! The sale ends March 20 at 10 AM (PST). Seize the deal before it’s gone!
🎮 https://store.steampowered.com/app/668580/Atomic_Heart/ 🎮

Sink into the depths of the unknown, where silence meets the storm... with Øneheart 🌊✨

DLC#3 has been out for over a month! ✨🐬
What moments left the biggest impression? And what could be improved? We’d love to hear your thoughts!

📝 TAKE THE SURVEY

Thank you for playing and helping us make the game even better! 🚀

Diving into cosplay? Our Nastya guide will help you transform into the most effortlessly cool ichthyologist around.😊 Follow the steps, perfect the look, and get ready for an ocean of compliments!🐬

➡️ CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD ⬅️

Your favorite heroes, always at your fingertips!📱✨
Hunter, Nikolay, and Nastya are ready to light up your screen! Download the new wallpapers now and take the characters with you wherever you go.💥

🔗 CLICK HERE 🔗